Methods

The risk of developing the disease relative to a smoking habit was calculated as the odds ratio.

Furthermore, to evaluate the influence of smoking on the subsequent course of inflammatory bowel disease, we performed a multivariate analysis that included pertinent variables such as the need for surgery, number of hospitalizations and relapses.

Results

The pattern of smoking in UC patients was different from that in CD patients.

In UC there was a significant predominance of non-smokers and ex-smokers (P=0.02), whereas smoking habits in CD were not different from those in controls.